The Academy
by 9tail4u
Summary: Eyos and Alex have a hard time keeping up with their school when they discover mystical crystals that change their lives
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone who wants to read my story (for reasons unknown) there was a little editing difficulty, so there are huge paragraphs. I won't be able to edit them just yet (becuase I'm lazy and also I have to be doing school). I cannot take full credit for this story, I write it with someone else, I'll call her Jay. We've been writing this for a little while and its one of my works I am extremely proud of.

PS since I'm writing with someone else there are going to be more updates.

Enjoy!

Prologue: To those who still believe in freedom,

There has been much bloodshed leading up to this point in our lives. I fear that it will all come to head in the next decade. I can feel it in the air. Once long ago a man named Vire found a hidden temple before our order could hide it. He took the power it held, and claimed himself King over Azregel. The rebellion formed and took desperate actions that most of us weren't proud of. In the short time that followed we hid the three other temples of power. Only the chosen few can find it. I pray they will be strong through the perils that will befall them, and that my own son, Eyos, who has just entered his seventeenth year, will be among those who will bring the downfall of Vire's rule. I write from my jail cell to all those who need hope in these times. Stay strong. The end is near.

Johan Pavstoni

**Chapter one**

Eyos sat up in his bed and looked over at the mirror next to him, like always his wild black hair was untamable. His hair went up and back like a strong wind hit him and his hair never recovered. He got up and walked over to his closet where his everyday cloths waited for him. He put on his black shirt with red trimming and his light black pants. His room was dark, but he liked it that way. He usually clung to the shadows. Going unnoticed was his specialty, except for one girl who couldn't help but notice him every day. He sort of understood the whole "I _need_ a friend" thing since he was that way when he was little. He guessed she never grew out of it. Not that he minded it though because she was nice and funny. He grabbed his room keys and locked the door once outside his room. The academy he trained at had a couple of classes to pick from: Knight, Archer, and Assassin, most people got a choice as to what they wanted to be. Eyos was forced into the Assassin class; he was the best at going unseen and getting business done. He walked down the hallway until it opened up to the courtyard. Eyos stopped and stared at everyone walking, talking, and laughing. He looked down, turned toward the wall and jumped, pushing off the wall half way to the roof and grabbed the tiles of the roof. He climbed up quickly and sat a little back from the edge, to go unseen. But as luck would have it, she saw him


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two**Alex ran across the courtyard light on her feet. A bit out of breath she stopped to examine herself. Nothing about her really stood out. She had worn her brown leather boots with green pants and a tan tunic. Her bow was slung against her back, which gave her a sense of security. She smiled as she pushed a strand of her brown hair out of her face. No one would suspect she had been here. Out of the hundred students training here she would be the last person the headmaster would suspect. She had broken into his chamber and changed the schedule for today, and she may have also looked for a little bit of personal information in the process. Catching her breath again she started down a path that would lead her to the main courtyard. She wondered where Eyos had been today. They usually would talk for a few minutes at lunch and wondered if she had missed him, but quickly dismissed the thought. Alex noticed everything, especially when she paid attention. She slowed down her pace and came to a stop under the shadow of the mess hall facing the dorms. A bird flew overhead startling her, instinctively she reached for her bow and looking up she saw him. She looked around to see if anyone else had noticed him perched on the roof of the dorms. No one did. She looked up again and noticed he was staring at her. She smiled. He was presumably waiting for her to make the first move. Her heart began to race. She scanned her surroundings and did a few calculations in her mind. The mess hall was the tallest building next to the dormitory and she could climb up the drainpipe on the other side and exit into the forest. Alex's foot began to shift. She knew what he was going to do and it was prohibited for anyone to leave the school grounds. Which made the thought of leaving even more appealing. She saw Eyos swing down from the roof onto the deck of the building. No more thinking. So she stopped her train of thought there and ran.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three** As Eyos' foot struck the wooden deck he looked back to see her start running. He looked around the patio where people lazily ate and talked, tables and chairs scattered about and a few benches here and there, overhead were wooden girders held up by columns. He charted a course through the groups of people and their chairs that just happened to go through his enemy's seat. He planned it just in time to see Alex run up the corner of the building and start running along the roof. He started running to keep up with her. He had to weave his way in and out of people's paths to get where he needed to go. "Hey stupid!" he yelled. "Huh?" Derik looked over and stood up to face his tiny foe as Eyos was running straight at him. Eyos kept a solemn face as everyone made way for this madman running at the toughest guy in school. There was still a bit of space left as Derik took a couple of steps forward got in a fighting stance. _Closer… closer… just a little more..._ Derik got ready for a powerful punch, and Eyos slid on the ground just in time, feeling fist through his hair. Eyos grabbed Derik's shirt while he was sliding under his legs and pulled down hard. Eyos came out of the slide and jumped off a chair then grabbed a girder, and swung with all his might. He landed on the top of the next girder in squat, legs apart, and looked back to see Derik's face in the wooden ground. He looked over to the roof, scanning for Alex. She was standing a little ahead of him laughing so hard she was on her knees; he jumped from girder to girder until he had caught up with her and helped her up. Laughing she wiped a tear away and said, "That was the funniest thing I've ever seen." Eyos laughed back, she was different he had to admit but she was all right. Suddenly she pushed him onto the hard cold tiled roof and he saw her running toward the woods, laughing, he smiled and chased after her. She jumped off the roof and landed in a roll, staggered, then started running again. He jumped off and rolled, keeping low so he could keep running, he gained on her a little. She looked back and then disappeared into the woods. The woods were very dense on the ground so it was always tough to get through, but not on the branches of the trees. Of course, he had told her this, so he saw her climbing a tree as soon as he broke through the brush, he waded through the thick plant life. When he got to the tree he grabbed the low lying branches and climbed quickly after her. When he got to the treetop he saw her running along the branches he started running after her. It was a fun time whenever he was with her; she always made sure of that. He laughed to himself as he thought of all the goofy stuff she would do to make him smile. He focused again and heard screaming, there had been a hole in the trees; she had fallen through. Instinctively he jumped after her head first catching up to her fast. He got even with her, held her tight, placed himself so he would take the brunt of the hit and braced for impact, but there was none. Eyos cracked open one eye and he was inches from a platform, just… floating there. He let go of Alex and stood up touching the ground. "Alex…" She was still floating, "Alex? What is going on?" Before him was a gigantic castle… an _underground _castle.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four** Falling. All Alex knew was that she was falling! She screamed. She just kept falling! All of a sudden there was only dim light. She shut her eyes not daring to look down. All in a moment she felt Eyos rush to her side trying to protect her from the fall. But they stopped. She heard his voice. "What the?" She looked up and saw what looked like and underground castle, but made of a weird kind of stone that blended in perfectly with the earth. "Where are we?" Eyos ran his hand through his hair. "I don't know" Alex, still floating, moved her body into a standing position and slowly sank to the ground. "Gah!" she stumbled and fell on the ground. "Alex! Are you ok?" Eyos was by her side again in a second. She laughed a little then coughed as her voice got caught in her throat. "Maybe. I tripped over a branch when I fell. I think I sprained my ankle." she wrinkled her face in pain. "What's that?" she pointed over to a wall. "I don't know" Eyos looked at her still concerned. "We need to get you back to the academy." "Come on! I'll be fine let's just explore a little bit. Or at least check out the wall" "You can't walk!" "Psh. I can crawl." She smiled as he reached down to help her up. "I'll be fine! Come on!" Alex used Eyos for a crutch as they began making their way over to the wall. Then the carvings started to appear. There were four dragons and four riders. Each flew in opposite directions. Everyone had a jewel in the palm of his hand, including all the dragons. "Whoa" Eyos and Alex stood in awe of the massive rock carving. Alex moved to touch the wall when all of a sudden the two stones with the dragon and rider closest to her started glowing. She hesitated and pulled back. This time Eyos reached forward and the Stones on another carving started to glow. "What do you think?" Alex asked unmoving. "I-I think they're meant for us." he reached out his hand and pulled out his glowing stones. "Try getting those ones out." Alex did and was surprised how easily it came out of its slot. "Should we take the others?" she looked at Eyos, and he nodded. She bent down to the bottom stone and tried to pull it out of its socket but it wouldn't move. "Here let me try" Eyos bent down on one knee and started to pull on the stone; it didn't even budge. "Guess we're not taking those ones" Alex said. She stood and laughed a little. Eyos, not giving up, was still trying to get the stone out of the wall. She pushed him. "Come on! It's getting late!" He smiled. "What happened to exploring?" "Well if you want to explain to the headmaster why we missed the evening curfew then…" "Say no more!" he lifted her up and started running toward the entrance where they fell in. "Eyos look!" There was an upwards tunnel with light coming out of it. "I think it will take us back to the forest." But as she said it she knew it didn't a few things didn't match up. The light, for instance, was pale blue like the mornings. But when they first came it was just starting to fade into evening. "Another time Alex." He was right. They had to get back. If they didn't climb out now they would miss curfew, and wouldn't be able to come back here for who knows how long. "You're right. We're coming back soon though. Promise?" "Okay" Eyos looked towards light one last time before he put Alex over his shoulder and started to climb. It took only a few minutes for them to reach the top of the opening, and when Alex looked back she could barely see where they just came out. "Come on. It'll be faster if we head through the tree tops." Eyos looked at her. "Yeah…" she mumbled. Her foot was throbbing from the pain. She reached into her pocket to make sure the gems were still there and Eyos did the same. They began their ascent into the trees, but Alex couldn't take her mind off the light. It felt like something was calling her back. Something inside her wanted to race back to the cavern and jump into the light. But then they were back. Lights shone from freshly lit lanterns as people began making their way to the auditorium for the final assembly. "Just in time." Eyos said dropping down from the drainpipe where no one would see them. "You ready?" "As I'll ever be." They made their way toward the auditorium merging with the others. Alex was still limping and that brought a little attention to them, but nothing out of the ordinary. That last hour whizzed by, and feeling completely exhausted Eyos helped Alex to her room. "I'll tell the nurse I tripped and fell tonight after assembly." "Sounds good" He was tired and they both needed sleep. "Got your gems?" She asked before turning back toward her room, "Right here." He looked at his shirt pocket. "Goodnight Alex, get some rest" "Night." She turned around and closed her door. She fell on her bed without changing and dreamed of the passage with the blue light.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter five** Eyos stood staring at her doorway for a short while, hearing the "oooh" and whispers about what had happened. He wanted to wait until someone else was there for her, just leaving her would be… irresponsible. When he looked away he saw a group of girls standing behind him. "You can stop standing guard over her door; we_ are _her roommates after all." He slumped his shoulders, put his hands in his pockets and stepped away from the door, but there was something slippery under his foot and he slipped. _Figures, _he thought, _what else would happen after a great day?_ He caught himself, saving him from some unneeded pain, but this did not save him from humiliation. The girls laughed, and pointed in the night time. Their laughter boomed through the halls, Eyos got up and took another step. He slipped again, but caught himself on the wall. _What is going on? _He looked at his shoes, nothing on them; it was like the air was sweeping under his feet so hard his feet didn't touch the ground. He made such a racket that people started coming out of their rooms to see the guy who couldn't walk. Humiliated he walked back to his room slipping the whole way. He dived into his room, sat on the ground and took of his shoes, throwing them against the wall. This was why he hated everyone, they couldn't just help him, and they just stared and laughed. Frustrated he laid back and closed his eyes. He felt wind from his window rush around him and it flowed out in a wave that blew up all of his papers, sending them flying everywhere. He slowly drifted off to sleep with papers covering him. He woke up on cold stone floor; it smelled like... morning dew. He stood up and saw a bluish glow in a circle around where he stood. It was the pillar of light they had seen that day! He walked out of the pillar and noticed his skin glowed blue, like the light. He clenched his fists and released, still looking at the skin. _So I'm at the temple. _He thought, he didn't know how this was possible, but it felt amazing. It was strange though, the temple wasn't all thrashed like the first time he was there. A yell came from above as a man flew down the hole Alex and he fell through. His fall slowed and he lightly landed, the man looked frightened and fragile, scared, but interested in this new discovery. He looked around and stopped straight where Eyos was standing. Eyos nervously waved once and the man didn't respond. "Uhhh, hi?" Eyos said and he still did not respond. The man started running straight at Eyos. Eyos started taking multiple steps back, and then the man ran though him... _He ran though me? _Eyos looked behind him and saw the man running down a corridor that he hadn't seen before; he shifted his foot and ran off after the man. The lefts and rights were confusing, he thought he had gotten lost several times, but he always saw a flash of the man as he turned the next corner. Finally he made it to a huge room with two pillars standing parallel to one wall. The ceiling was so high up it turned black before he saw the top. The man stood in front of the two pillars staring up and Eyos realized, those weren't two pillars... those were _legs!_ And not even half of the legs either! The part of the legs he could see were easily three times his height! _This thing must be huge! _He thought. There was a stand between the two legs that was regular human height with a crystal on it. "No... It can't be... King Vire?" He reeled back, "King Vire? The evil king?" King Vire took the crystal, and the statue budged. "So... this is the past?" Eyos said aloud. King Vire turned around shocked, "Who are you? How did you follow me?" Eyos stared right into King Vire's eyes, "Sorry! I didn't know you could see me! I, ah... I have to go!" "Wait!" The ground shook and Eyos stumbled to the ground and saw King Vire standing a short ways away from him offering his hand. Eyos slapped it away with disgust. King Vire backed away, "Sorry I did not mean to startle you, I was just curious. You said this is the past... what does that mean?" Eyos looked up into the King's eyes, "King Vire, I... know I'm a little shaky on this but I'm from the future." King Vire laughed, "I'm not a king boy! I am just a peasant man whose friends betrayed him to get to the king's position." He looked sad now as if the memory were still fresh. "If I had the power I'd kill them all!" he looked at Eyos and sighed. "Yes but you do. You actually enslave them, and use that crystal and giant statue... puppet thing to take your revenge and take the throne." Eyos spat in his direction, dirt had gotten into his mouth, and it had also given him a reason to spit at the King. "But as I said this is the past... and you haven't done that." Eyos sighed in relief; maybe he could stop all of that before it happened, but looking at the King to be he knew he had said too much. "Your point of revenge is enticing, a wonderful plan really!" The King smiled as his face suddenly became much darker; he stepped forward, over Eyos and clenched the crystal in his fist. Eyos could practically see the power flowing through him. The earth trembled terribly as the legs behind the King started to move. The puppet statue, Gondos, was waking up, and Eyos didn't think it was waking up to help him out of the Temple. The King laughed like a madman as the statue moved slowly and menacingly, shaking the ground with every movement, Eyos scrambled to get his legs under him and started to run away. The temple was too small for the giant puppet, it started crashing down walls wherever it walked, he tried to remember which way he had come, _Right, left, left… right? _He turned right and ran down a long hall. The hall seemed to keep going; he hadn't remembered a hall this long on the way in. The hall came to an abrupt end to Eyos' horror; he turned around to see the feet of the puppet chasing him walking towards him. He thought quickly and ran towards the feet and jumped up one, jumped toward the other calf and bounced off that one. Before he hit the ground the puppets hand closed around him out of nowhere. Slowly he was lifted up to its face, "Fear me!" it whispered forcefully, its lips still closed. The face seemed old, the rock that it was made of was covered in moss and the beard carved into it was also covered in moss, the eyes were blank. No pupils or anything just blank, but he didn't have time to think about that now. The fist started to constrain and crush him more, his arms were pressed to his sides and it became harder and harder to breathe. He felt like his very existence was leaving him, he was being crushed so hard. He struggled and struggled but it was no use, every movement only made the grip tighter. His vision started to blur, black blotted his sight. "No." He forced out of his lungs then took the biggest breath he could and shouted "No!" White air rushed around him and forced the hand to open, sending him plummeting to the ground; he wished that he had a ramp to slide off. Before he hit the ground the white air came again and made a ramp and he slid down and across the ground, into the morning light pillar. As he slid in he saw the King running after him, looking menacing and… well terrifying. "Sorry! Can't stay! Living… defiantly a priority!" He yelled as he saw his body disintegrate. Eyos woke up, jerking up on the floor sweating hard. He looked around his room and saw Alex on his bed, sitting and staring. "Well hi there." She smiled.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter six** "Come on you have to have a better story than that!" Alex's roommate, Nikki, complained. She sat on the edge of her bed. _Yeah, Actually I do._ Alex thought. Her head hurt a little today, but not as much as her foot. The swelling had increased; probably from her walking on it so much yesterday. The nurse bought her story though so that was good, but she was on official bed rest for the next week. And of course Nikki had volunteered to stay and aide her. "No, really" Alex's face remained perfectly serious. "I was coming back from assembly and decided to run, but tripped over a stick." Her excuse was lame and roommate wasn't buying her act. She had to look more embarrassed to convince her. "Luckily Eyos was there to help me back to my room." "Oh _him_." Nikki smiled. "What?" Alex looked at her puzzled. "Really?" she laughed. "You didn't hear him? You must have been out! He couldn't practically walk when we got back to the room." "Oh no! Is he ok?" Alex tried getting up but Nikki held her down. "Hey. Easy there! I'm sure he's fine." She looked at Alex like she'd gone crazy. Ever since Alex had heard that he had stayed outside her room, till her roommates came to help her; she couldn't get him out of her mind. It was so nice of him. She couldn't believe Nikki thought that the fact he couldn't walk was funny! "Have you seen him today?" Alex inquired. "I need to talk to him," she blurted out. _Easy there_. She thought to herself. _Don't seem obsessed_. Nikki gave her a smug look. "Oh really? And why, may I ask, is that?" "It's not like that." Alex mumbled. Nikki raised an eyebrow. She was known for her gossip around the school. That's why Alex stayed pretty low key around her. "I think he may have picked up a few of my arrows that fell out of my quiver. I'm missing two or three" "Oh." She seemed disappointed. "Could you go find him for me?"

"Yeah I guess so." She got off Alex's bed giving her one last look. "Promise you won't get up?" "It's not like I have anywhere to go." "Good point." She smiled and left the room. Alex waited a few minutes to make sure she had gone. She pulled off her covers and hopped on one foot over to her drawer. She pulled out a fresh tunic and some pants and put them on. Next she pressed a small button on the side of the dresser, and a small compartment lifted out of the bottom. She examined the cylindrical crystals inside. One was bright orange and the other was a clear blue. She put them in her pocket and grabbed her room key. She was hungry and she knew where the cook kept his secret stash of snacks. She exited her room heading for the kitchen. It would take Nikki a good hour to find Eyos's dorm room. She really did hope he was ok. "Alex?" She turned around Nikki was standing down the hall. "Alex!" Alex laughed and began hopping with incredible speed down the hall. "Get back here!" Nikki yelled from down the corridor. Alex rounded a turn and dove to gain momentum. She tucked and rolled, and came out in a handspring. She was about to land in a hop when she noticed there wasn't any ground. She yelped. "Ahhh" She fell through a window past the first two flights of stairs… She was about to hit the ground! Covering her face she embraced for the impact. Nothing. She looked down. Her face was five inches off the ground. _What the… _The cavern! This was the exact same thing as the… All of a sudden she hit the ground. Her foot crunched into the ground and she bit her lower lip. "Mmfff" she muffled her cry and bounced back up into a standing position. As soon as she did Nikki came to the edge of the railing. "Alex?" she looked out the window. "How on earth did you get down there?" _Not on earth._ Alex laughed at her own joke. "My secret." She called back. "Come on you've got to rest!" "You know, I think I'm going to go for a walk and find Eyos." She turned and began hoping away. She smiled, imagining what she looked like. "It's no use. He is still asleep. I ran into his roommate on the way there." "I guess I'm going to go wait outside his door then!" She called "I really need those arrows!" She quickened her pace. Her foot burned, but she occupied her mind with something else. Like the fact that she just hovered! She stopped. _Is that what happened to Eyos? _Alex began to run even faster to his dorm. She jogged and hopped for about a minute till she came to the boy's dorms. There were a few people here and there, but it was mostly empty. She ran up the first flight of stairs leading upwards and got to the hallway. Eyos's room was just on the other side of the hall. "Hey there" The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. It was Derik. "Alexandria. Right?" He quickly stepped out in front of her. "Nikki told me about your foot. Sorry." "Yeah umm… thanks." She ran her hand through her hair trying to think of an escape route. "Listen I just have to get by and pick up a few things from Eyos…" "Shouldn't you be resting it?" he took a step closer. "I could walk you back to your dorm if you wanted." Cornered. Alex knew if she refused him things would definitely be bad. For her and Eyos. _Why is he suddenly interested in you Alex?_ The thought buzzed in her head. The tone of Derik's voice grew deeper and a little enraged "I could take care of your things. Eyos and I have a score to settle." _Of course! This was to get back at Eyos!_ She tried to remain calm. "Really I'm okay. It's almost better" Alex's voice grew stern. Derik frowned. "Listen, since your foot is better, a few of us are going to have a match tonight and I was wondering if you'd like to join us? Me to be more specific." He took one more step toward her and leaned in way too close. Way too close for Alex. He was about three inches from her face. Instinctively she jumped back, and kicked him in the face. Which did her foot no favors. "Sorry I'm _really _not interested." "Ahhh!" Derik stumbled backwards. She took the opportunity and pushed herself off the wall, angling herself so she would fall behind him. But he was quick. She landed and he swept his leg out in a backwards sweep. It hit her bad foot, and knocked her off her feet. She glared at him from the ground. "My offer is no longer a question. You're coming with me!" There was fire in his eyes. She did a back roll on the floor and began to run; ignoring the pain. Derik roared. And chased after her. Alex rounded the corner and saw Eyos's door ahead. _Please be open. Please be open! _The prayer rang silently through her head. She sprang for the doorknob. It clicked! With two seconds to go she spun open the door, spun in, and slammed it shut. Breathing heavily she engaged the deadbolt. "This isn't the end of me Alex!" Derik yelled. "You and Eyos better watch your backs!" She heard him storm off. To where she didn't care. She was safe now. That's all that mattered. Eyos had unconsciously saved her again by leaving the door unlocked. She smiled and looked down. He was on the floor breathing as heavily as she was. She limped over and sat on the end of his bed. A few times he cried out. Distressed or angry, she couldn't tell. "NO!" all of a sudden his eyes were open and he sat up. "Well hi there." Alex got off the bed and kneeled by him. "Bad dream?" Eyos looked around as if he hadn't heard her. "Eyos?" "Huh?" his head snapped in her direction. Sweat beaded his forehead. He didn't look so good. "Are you okay?" her brow wrinkled in concern. "Yeah, just a dream. Whew. Wow what a dream! Everything felt so real…" "You don't look so good." She pointed out. He laughed. "Well neither do you." Alex's face darkened. "I'm not so good. Thanks for asking." She sighed debating if she should tell him "I got attacked." Eyos stumbled onto his feet and pulled her up. "What? By whom?" the concern in his face made her feel a little better. "It was Derik." "Oh." He sat down on the bed obviously trying to control his rage. "I kicked him pretty good in the face." That made him smile a little, but it quickly faded. "I'll take care of this Alex…" "No!" the tone of her voice surprised her. "That's just what I think he wants. He's bloodthirsty Eyos. Promise me you won't do anything." He just stared at her. "Well, besides the usual." Her smile was followed by silence for a few seconds. "Hey. Did anything weird happen to you today?" she broke it. "Just that dream. And last night I couldn't walk…" He frowned at the memory. "I flew." Alex said quietly "Kind of" "Wait you flew!" He raised an eyebrow and she smiled. Their conversation was taking a turn for the better. "I think it has something to do with gems we found at the cavern." She said excitedly "Huh." He looked up. "Try flying." Alex nodded. She took a step back. She hadn't actually tried to fly before so this was a bit awkward for her. _Okay. Here goes nothing. _Her heart raced. Looking at Eyos she began to fall backwards. "Alex!" He clearly wasn't expecting her to fall. He stopped in his tracks. No impact. She smiled. "Try moving toward me." Alex felt a tingle run up her spine from the excitement. She flipped over in the air on her stomach. She tried to pull back a little which made her move backwards. She looked up. They were both smiling. Alex pulled back a little further in order to have enough momentum to cross the room. Then she shot forward. "Ahhh!" She couldn't stop. She was headed straight for the wall. Whack! Her head and the hard wood wall met. For a moment she felt dizzy. She tried sitting up. "Alex! Are you ok?" Eyos helped her up. A huge smile lit up her face. "Yeah. I think so." She broke out laughing. And he joined in. "What's that?" Eyos pointed to her pocket. A blue light was coming out from her pocket. She pulled out her crystals. The blue on was glowing with a bright intensity. She stared in awe of it. "I think we need to take a visit to the cavern." She looked at Eyos and he nodded


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter seven** "But not now ok? You need some rest." Eyos sat Alex on his bed. She looked up at him, "I'm OK." "Nice try, I'm not buying it." He laughed and picked her up, his arms under her knees and the middle of her back. "No not like this." She looked at him sternly but with a tiny smile. "Wha- what? What's wrong with this?" He set her back on the bed, "ok well I can be your crutch alright?" She smiled and nodded. Eyos helped her up and she leaned against him, her arm over his shoulder and his under hers. "I'm fine really, I practically ran here." She laughed but he felt concerned. They hadn't even left the room yet and she was wincing and biting her lip, where some blood had already been. "Nope, nope." He picked her up and set her down on the bed again, He got on one knee and was eye level with her, "Lip, show me your lip." She reluctantly stuck her lower lip out and so he was able to examine the teeth marks that had sunk into her lip. "Ok lay down," She did so and he went outside to get some ice, which he put in a clean rag. He brought it back and she was sitting up once again. "Hey, you have to lie down. Ok? It'll be fine." She nodded and smiled softly. "Ok, now hold this on your lip." She did so, as she did he unwrapped her foot bandages; she wiggled it a little. "It's ok, listen I'm going to bandage your foot right ok?" "Ok." She whispered. "I'll be right back with some supplies alright?" he said. He smiled as he closed the door, "You can deadlock it if you want, don't walk on your foot yet ok?" He yelled through the wood. "Alright!" she yelled back. _Alright some supplies… and maybe a bit of revenge._ That was an idea Eyos could get behind. Alex never approved of him fighting full on, on purpose. He walked slowly and with purpose to the training ground, where Derik and his goons were sure to be practicing. He pulled his collar up and stared at the ground when he walked through the gates where the practice ground spread out in front of him. Various students trained hard as a few messed around with those hard at work. Derik was among those who messed with the students. _What a meat-head. _Right when he thought that Derik turned around, "What?" Eyos took a step back in shock. "Yeah?" he said, unsure. Derik walked toward him, breathing heavily. "How dare you!" Derik stopped close enough to tower over him. "I didn't do anything." He said slowly, keeping his head level might keep his head from being dismembered. "I heard you!" Derik swung down with his arm hard. Eyos stepped out of the way as Derik's hand smashed into the ground. "Quick to anger. Tsk, tsk, tsk." Eyos shook his head as Derik shook his hand in pain. Derik then threw a hook punch, Eyos ducked in time to feel air rush though his hair. "Really it's sad." Derik swung back with his elbow, Eyos ducked again. People were definitely staring at them now. "Just! Just, die!" He swung both his arms toward Eyos' head from both sides. Eyos couldn't react fast enough and found himself… standing behind Derik? He looked around and saw everyone staring at him in shock. What had happened? Derik bent over his hands, shaking them hard. Eyos jumped on Derik's back with more ease than it should have been. Eyos brought both of his fists down on the top of Derik's head; Derik hit the ground hard. Wind rushed around Eyos as he landed softly next to Derik, _what is going on? _He thought. One of his roommates walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder, "That was impressive." Eyos looked over at Jason, he looked down at Derik lying on the ground, then looked back at Eyos, "How's your hand?" "It really hurts!" He shook his hand a little. He then realized everyone was staring at him, he put up his collar again and walked away slowly looking back to nod at Jason. He ran a hand through his hair and put the other in his pocket. People were still rushing about to random meetings, it was summer vacation and everyone was enjoying it, but in summer vacation word of _any _event spread like wildfire and no doubt Alex would hear of his fight. He walked over to the medical wing of the school and found some never-melt-ice, which, as the name suggests, _never _melts. He then picked up some good, strong bandages from the nurse there who gave him a strange look. _Wow word travels faster than I thought!_ He then snuck quietly out of the medical wing, not making eye contact with any who passed him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight** Alex lay down on Eyos's bed contemplating what she should do. Her unbandaged foot throbbed with pain where she had propped it up. She tried to move it but as soon as she did sharp pain shot through her foot. She definitely couldn't walk on it anymore for a while. She sighed. She hated being helpless. She didn't want to go to sleep. That would just be awkward, especially if he or one of his roommates came back to the room. Plus she was stubborn. She smiled somewhat proud of this fact. She heard a key turn in the lock. Her heart beat a little faster. _Stop it. _She told herself. The door started to open and she pretended to be asleep. "I don't understand." she heard a voice from outside the room. Not Eyos. "Why would Alex be here?" "She said she needed to pick up some arrows I think." It was Nikki. Alex tried not reacting as they entered the room. "Yup there she is." Nikki said obviously proud that she was right. "Ummm. Where is Eyos?" His roommate asked. As if Nikki would know. "I think he was heading to the training grounds." Alex could hardly stay still where she was. _The training grounds! _She was furious. They must have noticed because Nikki kicked him. "Ow!" He jumped back. "What was that for?" "You're going to wake her up!" She said in a hushed tone. "She hasn't rested all day! We need to let her sleep." "Ok. Ok." He rubbed his shin. And slowly started to head out of the room. "Eyos has a lot of explaining to do when he gets back." _You're telling me._ Alex tried to keep her breathing steady. "I'll come back to get her later" Nikki whispered. They closed and locked the door on their way out. Alex instantly sat up looking for her old bandages to support her foot. But to her dismay Eyos took them with him. _Smart. _All Alex could do was wait for him to come back to the room. She looked around, sighed and laid down. She would need her rest for the talk she would have with Eyos in a little while.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

As Eyos walked onto the wet grass an idea intruded his thoughts, _wasn't it a little too easy to fight Derik? It's like he wanted to lose, it was a very short fight. Fights shouldn't be that easy… _He contemplated it as he unlocked his door and walked in, closing the door behind him. "Ok so I got some stuff, sorry it took so lo-"he turned to look at Alex and stood frozen as he saw… _it. _"You're not possible." He said, dropping the medical supplies. A small goblin about as tall as Eyos' chest stood over Alex, definitely something he hadn't expected. "Get away from her." He said standing up straight and trying to look as tough as possible, which did not work even close to how he wanted. The goblin growled and ran toward the door, he tried to stop him but the goblin pushed him out of the way. He landed hard against the floor, waking Alex up. She sat up in the bed then wincing in pain. "Stay there! I'll be back!" She stood up and grimaced, "I'm going with you." She said forcefully. Eyos sat her down quickly feeling bad about the pain it caused her, "No you can't." "_I'm going." _She said again very seriously. "Ok fine but you're going to have to do your whole hovering thing on your hurt foot." "OK! Let's go!" She said getting up, not wincing as bad as before and ran out the door, he ran after her. As soon as they stepped outside the door it turned from day to night, "Eyos," She put her arm in front of him to stop him," what are we chasing?" She said looking at the dark starry sky. "You are mistaken." A low, scratchy voice boomed from the sky. Eyos and Alex instantly crouched down. "Oh? Please fill me in then." Eyos talked back to the sky. "You are not chasing, you are being chased!" A big black shadow rushed next to them. They looked up into the goblin's face, its teeth gnarly, and its skin slightly green. It swung a spiked club at their heads. Eyos tackled Alex to the ground, she yelled in pain. "Sorry!" He helped her up and started running, making sure she was in front of him. "Run!" The huge goblin screamed. As they ran through the halls they noticed they were all empty, the _whole school _was empty! They ran around a corner and stood just beyond the edge, pressing themselves against a wall. Eyos edged to the corner and poked his head over the side, the goblin was gone. "What is that thing?" She whispered harshly to him harshly like it was his fault the goblin was there. "That," He paused, reaching for his pockets, "that is a goblin." "A _goblin?_ Those don't exist, really what is it." He found what he was looking for in his pocket and pulled it out, "What is this?" He held up his crystal, she looked confused. "This is a myth, something that was out of a story, but here it is." He looked back around the corner, "So it stands to reason that everything that is a myth has the possibility of being real." He said still looking around the corner. She tugged on the front of his shirt lightly to get his attention; he looked back at her concerned and pained face. "Ok, so why is it here?" "Well… it's here for you." Her eyes widened. "Or these." He held up the crystal again. "Probably for the-"The goblin then suddenly was standing over Alex again, bloodlust in its eyes. It raised its club and swung down, Eyos pulled Alex's arm hard and brought her in near him. The ground broke and flew into the air; he swung Alex out in front of him and started to run again. He looked back and saw the goblin staring at them, "Let me finish my sentences!" He yelled at it. And focused again on running, he knew where he had to go. "Right!" He yelled as Alex came to a fork in the path, she literally glided around the corner, he was shocked and ran a little slower to process it. He saw the goblin out of the corner of his eye and started running faster again. They were running along a building when he caught up to Alex and silently pulled her into a room. He held his breath as the huge goblin stomped passed, they let out their breath and they turned around. Eyos smiled as he grabbed a gauntlet with a hidden blade on it, he had directed them to the weapon room. Alex smiled as she grabbed a bow and a quiver of arrows; he then grabbed a sword and swung it around. She walked over to a wall and leaned against it. "So, why did it take so long to get some bandages?" Alex asked. Eyos' face felt hot and he turned away from her and looked at all the weapons, picking up some pretending to be interested in them. "The nurses were giving me a hard time." Eyos lied trying to look even more interested in a particular sword by crouching over it. She walked over and stood towering over him, "Oh really? Was one of those nurses Derik?" Eyos stood up and laughed to himself about the idea of Derik being a nurse, "What? No…" He lied again; he turned around and saw her with one eyebrow raised. "Did you fight him?" _CRASH!_ _The goblin crashed through the roof and towered over them. "Now isn't the time."_ Eyos said to Alex. The goblin quickly smashed the ground between them and they hit the walls. They let out cries of pain as they slid to the ground. "To the outside!" Alex shouted. They both stood up, Alex ran out the door and Eyos jumped out the window quickly, rolled and stayed low to keep running. Behind them the building crumbled as the huge goblin walked through it at a leisurely pace, its prey feet from it. It brought its club up, "Dodge it!" Alex shouted to Eyos. He rolled away as the club hit the ground, shaking the earth. He looked over at her to see that she had glided out of the way. She looked over at him totally serious, "Did you fight Derik?" She yelled again. "Really? You're asking now?" He yelled back. When he looked back at the goblin he saw the club coming right at him, "Oh come on." _WHAM! _He flew towards a wall and braced himself for impact by stretching his arms out. A huge rush of wind pushed against him and he just tapped the wall then was set down, _did I do that?_ "Uh? A little help over here?" He looked back over to Alex who was gliding out of the way of the huge club. He ran behind the goblin and swung at its knees, he didn't hit them but a huge airwave came and hit its knees, knocking it off its feet and fell toward Eyos, he braced himself to die for the fourteenth time today, he felt the ground shake as it hit the ground. He opened his eyes and saw he was between its legs, _lucky chance. _He thought. He climbed up and over the goblin to its head and slid off its body. He walked around its head until he could see the top of its head. The ground shook as the huge goblin started to get up again, Eyos got down in a fighting stance when he saw Alex high in the air, her bow tensed, and released the arrow and sent it flying into the throat of the goblin. It disappeared into a cloud of black smoke. The whole world dissolved to black. Eyos opened his eyes and he was on the ground in his room, where the goblin had pushed him aside. Alex had her eyes open and they both looked at each other, "Nice shot." He said


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten** Alex didn't know how to feel. She was Furious, scared and frightened all at the same time! Her heart was still beating fast, and her foot was throbbing again. All she could think to say was "You didn't answer my question." Eyos's had a look of shock on his face. "Are you serious? We come out of something like that and all you can think about is if I answered your question?" He got up off the floor and his voice rose. "Well I'm sorry if I don't exactly know what to think!" She yelled back. He stared at her for a moment. "I want the truth." She was calm now. He sat down on the edge of his bed careful to avoid her foot. "I think you already know." He looked away "Why? Why did you go after him?" "Well I'm sorry if I don't want some pea brained jerk feeling at liberty to hurt you" He looked away from her. There was silence for a few seconds. "I'm sorry. It wasn't fair of me to act that way." she sat up and moved next to him. "Me too." He looked at her and moved to get the bandages from where he dropped the on the floor. There was silence for a few minutes. He knelt down where her foot was and started to wrap it. "I think we should do some more research on what we saw." She winced as he tightened the bandage. "But your foot" He began to protest "We should wait till its better." "We can wait any longer" She looked into his eyes. "We need answers now." He looked back and sighed "Alright." He wasn't happy but he kind of owed it to her. "Great. We can make it to the library and study there." She stood up. "Let me carry you." He smiled a little. "But I…" she started. "Nope my conditions." He was adamant. "Fine." Eyos picked her up and started moving toward the door. He reached for the handle but all of a sudden it turned. Eyos jumped back with her still in his arms. The door creaked open. "Put me down!" She whispered. But it was too late. Nikki and Jason entered the room. "Alex!" She smiled a huge smile. "You're up!" They stood there in shock for a moment. "Hey Nikki." Eyos said coming to his senses. "Alex and I were just about to go to the library." Jason raised an eyebrow. He obviously wanted to talk with Eyos. "That's right!" Alex said. Trying to sound as indifferent as possible. "Its summer vacation." Jason pointed out. "I think it's a wonderful idea." Nikki pointed out. "It's a perfectly relaxing place for Alex to rest. Why don't we go with you?" Alex knew if she refused this would only give Nikki grounds to tease her later. "I don't think that's such a good idea." Alex said. This made Nikki smile even wider. But she really didn't care. She needed time with Eyos. "Alrighty then. I needed to teach Veronica how to throw knives anyways." They all walked awkwardly out of the room together and said their goodbyes. Alex and Eyos waited to talk until they were out of earshot. "Well that was awkward" Eyos laughed. Alex smiled and put her arm around his shoulder for more support. He didn't object. "What do we need to search for?" Alex asked. Trying to shift the mood. "We should start with the goblin." Eyos made his way down the first flight of stairs. "Right. So we better go to the children's section." They both laughed. Knowing that is exactly where their information was going to be found. Eyos made his way to the library. The sky was clear and there was a slight wind that kept blowing Alex's hair into her face. They walked a little ways in silence till they came to the two story building. "Do you think there will be myths about us?" Eyos mumbled. "I wouldn't be surprised." Alex laughed. The thought of being in a myth was a strange concept. Eyos kicked the door open with his foot without hesitating a single step. She smiled as they passed the librarian who gave them an odd look. "I could get used to this." She laughed quietly. "What?" The eagerness in Eyos's voice surprised her. "Adventure." She thought of a quick answer. "Oh. Right." He shrugged a little but kept on toward the small children's section in the back of the library. He set her on a small cushy chair and turned around to begin his search. Just at that moment Alex had an idea. Checking around to make sure no one was looking she focused her mind. She began to float upwards without Eyos noticing. "Okay I have a few good books to start fro-" Eyos looked at the empty chair. "Alex?" Alex stifled a laugh as she flipped upside down behind him. "Boo!" She poked him in the side. "Aah!" He forced out his hand but all Alex saw was a white stream coming at her head on. She instinctively dropped down to the ground and laughed. He smiled and chuckled a bit. "Don't, do that again." "No promises." He helped her up and gave her a funny look which lasted a few awkward seconds. "So about those books?" "Right! This one is about Vire's takeover of the kingdom "He held up a blue book. "This one is about a goblin named Jesifus, and this one is about the hidden kingdoms." "Great" let's get started. She took the one about the hidden kingdoms. And he started in on the history of King Vire. They spent the past hour reading and discussing their books. "Did you know it says there are pockets of at least 150 secret kingdoms like the one we found?" Alex asked Eyos. "And most haven't even been explored." His brow wrinkled a little bit. "But according to this book only four of those kingdoms held secret untold power." "I think King Vire found one of those pockets in the West." Eyos said showing her a map from the blue book. "See? That is why he concentrated all his power near the far mountains and the sea. Most people thought it was for protection." "But it was to a degree." Alex pointed out. "True." Eyos said. "For some reason Vire couldn't find the other three secret kingdoms." "Ooh! I read about that!" Alex exclaimed. "It turns out there was a secret order that protected the three secret kingdoms, and Kept Vire at bay." She began searching for a certain page. "Yeah. Apparently Vire had a child that was taken from him after his rule by that order." She looked at Eyos. "The child was secretly taken away with the rebel group and placed where no one could possibly find them." She paused and looked down again. "For a period of time the King only searched for his kid, which allowed the secret order to hide the Kingdoms forever from Vire's grasp." Alex frowned "But soon after that the two leaders were captured by Vire and tortured, but they didn't give up the location." She closed the book. Eyos was deep in thought. "I think we need to go to the temple again." "The what?" "I call it the temple." He smiled. "Well then" Alex stood up "Let's go exploring." He picked her up again. A habit she was starting to become accustomed to. They checked out the three books and made their way to the back of the mess hall where they could climb up and over the fence easy without being seen. "See you on the other side." She smiled and soared over the fence. The wind felt good on her face, and she realized she liked flying. She landed in a hop on her good foot. In the brush and waited for Eyos. All of a sudden he swung down from a tree. Alex's heart jumped and she laughed. "We should go the same way we found it last time." She started climbing the same tree she had a few days ago. Eyos close behind her. Once they reached the tree tops she jumped and flew in the air on her back obviously enjoying her newfound ability. Eyos laughed and sent a gush of white air toward her. She laughed as she picked up speed. There was no describing how much fun she had with Eyos. A thought popped into her head _Love?_ No. She tried dismissing the thought, but couldn't. And then she saw the infamous break in the trees. "Eyos!" She called for him. He was there in a second. "Alright let's make our way down…" But before he could say another word Alex took his hand and jumped off the branches bringing him with her. They fell fast and she looked down judging how much time they had. Adrenaline coursed through her veins and she couldn't help laughing. She took Eyos's other hand in hers and began to slow them down. They landed and her eyes went wide. "Your hair!" She was almost bent over with laughter. It was sticking out in all different directions. He smiled as he desperately tried to fix it, but to no avail. "Here" She smiled as she began working at it. "Thanks" He smiled back. Alex reached into her pocket and took out her crystals, and he did the same. They followed them to a small clearing where the break in the trees had been. She looked around, but couldn't find where the entrance was. "Follow the crystals." Eyos said following his. She followed his advice. All of a sudden she felt the ground break beneath her as she slipped down into the cavern. She landed in just enough time to see Eyos come through. "What a ride!" She loved this. He looked around. "So where do you want to explore first?" he asked. "The blue cavern." She began hopping, but he swept her of her feet again. She sighed. As he walked down the lightly lit tunnel. The air changed suddenly from dusky to crisp and fresh. The smell of grass and water reached her nose. All of a sudden an intense blue light enveloped them. It took a few minutes for their eyes to adjust. All of a sudden Alex lost her breath. They were standing in the middle of a giant underground meadow. "No way." Eyos's whispered in awe of what they were seeing. Alex jumped out of his arms and flew at least twenty feet in the air not even reaching the top of the huge cavern. The crystals in her hand were glowing with a huge intensity. "Follow the crystals again!" She yelled to Eyos. "You don't have to yell so loud" he called. Alex looked down his hands were over his ears like she had just blown a horn into them. She focused on her stones again and thought _Eyos? Can you hear me?_ The stones grew warm in her hand. _Alex? _His thoughts came soaring toward her. _No way this is so cool! _She could practically hear the excitement in his voice. She flew back down and stood in front of him. "Well I think we should explore more." she held up her crystals.

Eyos looked down at his crystals and followed them. Alex did the same. The meadow was large and it took them full ten minutes to cross. "You think this is one of the hidden kingdoms?" Eyos asked her. "I'm starting to think so." She pointed to a small cavern. "Eyos look!" She began hopping to the entrance. "Wait up!" He ran after her. Alex slowed down as Eyos caught up to her. They were at the entrance of the cave. She took a step forward. "Wait." Eyos grabbed her arm. "I'll go first to make sure it's safe." She laughed and gave him a funny look. "After you." she gestured forward, and followed after him. It instantly became dark again. Alex and Eyos both pulled out their stones eradicating some of the darkness. The cavern room was small and there seemed to be of nothing interest as they walked around. All of a sudden Alex went rigid. "What is it?" Eyos looked at her concerned. "I had a dream about this." She stood there shocked. Everything was exactly as she dreamt it. "So how often do you dream about me?" Eyos teased her. She laughed. They were becoming more and more relaxed around each other. "There was something in here. Something important." She tried to remember where it was. It had been over a month since she had the vivid dream of the cavern. Was someone messing with her head? She looked at her crystals. No. That was before they even found the cavern. "Alex!" Eyos called from a corner of the room. "I found something!" And ran over to him trying to ignore the pain creeping back into her foot. "What?" She asked. Not seeing anything "Hold up your stones" he instructed. She did. All of a sudden an orange boulder started glowing in front of her. She moved forward and knelt in front of it. "This isn't real." She looked over at Eyos who stood over the other boulder. Alex ran her hand down the boulder. "I think these are..." "Eggs." He finished her sentence. She stood up. "What do we do?" She looked from him back to the egg. "I don't know." He was transfixed on his egg. Alex was at a loss for words. Then it happened. A tiny crack appeared at the top of her egg. She knelt down again. Bright light started to shine through the crack as another one appeared. "Eyos!" she started to say, but he was busy watching his egg hatch. She turned back and watched as little by little the shell started to fall off. In a moment a tiny dragon head popped up and startled her. "Uhhh...Hi there." Alex reached out her hand. The little guy ducked back into its shell which made the rest of it fall to the ground. Alex started to laugh. _This is incredible!_ She could hardly believe what she was seeing! The little dragon lifted its head and looked at her, amused by her laugh. It started to get up, Alex held out her hand again, and on wobbly legs it began to walk toward her. She looked over at Eyos again who turned and smiled at her. His dragon was still trying to hatch. She watched as her dragon began jumping around amazed at the strength it had already. Alex heard a crack as she looked over to where Eyos sat now cross legged. She watched as his egg hatched and a tiny black dragon appeared. The dragon stared at Eyos and he stared back not knowing exactly how to proceed. All of a sudden the tiny black dragon jumped on Eyos's head with incredible speed. "Aah" Eyos tried to get a hold of it. It ran across his shoulders and down his back down to the ground and sat directly in front of him. Eyos stood there breathing heavily. Alex looked at him and broke out laughing so hard tears ran down her face. "I like him" She said as she carefully picked up her dragon. "Me too" Eyos laughed as he sat down and began having another staring contest with his. "Want to take them outside?" She stood up and placed her little orange dragon on her shoulder."

"Sounds good to me." He put his hand on the ground and his little guy ran up his arm.

"I'm going to call him Newt." She smiled at him and began walking toward the door.

"I Like Rill" he said after a few moments.

"It suits him." She looked at Newt and smiled. He nuzzled up against her neck. "I think we definitely have some more reading to do. She looked at Eyos and he nodded.

"Agreed.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

It was already dark in the underground meadow, when Eyos and Alex walked out of the cave. The meadow seemed to mimic the night and day cycle in real time and adjusted the light accordingly. Cold night air flooded the meadow, out of the corner of his eye Eyos saw Alex shiver. "Come on," he put his arms around her shoulders and found her a small patch of grass for her and her dragon, "You'll sleep here." He took of his jacket and put it around her shoulders where his arms had been.

She smiled, "Thanks, how cool is it we have dragons?" She whispered leaning in as if someone else would hear them.

"I don't know yet, too soon to tell how much of a problem they will be yet." Eyos said. Alex laughed and elbowed him.

"Oh lighten up!" She said, Eyos laughed back, his serious persona totally shattered. They stopped laughing slowly and they stared at each other for a few seconds, she smiled and he looked down.

"So, uh, I'll see you tomorrow alright? Sleep well, and if you need anything, yell for me." He hid his face and started to walk away, "Night!" He waved without turning around, because he didn't want her to see his red face. Rill sat on his shoulder and nuzzled against his neck.

He found a nice shady hill, laid down on the soft green grass and stared at the stars, the pinpricks in the sky. Rill slowly climbed on Eyos' chest and curled up. Eyos put his arms around Rill, his scales felt soft, and they had peach fuzz on them. Eyos closed his eyes softly.

Eyos woke up, Rill was gone. In fact, everything was gone. Everything around him was white. He got up and ran quickly one way, then turned and kept running. He ran until he was tired, there was no escape. He looked around, nothing could be done to escape, there was no end. Just when that thought ran though his mind he felt a rumble and behind him, as he turned, he saw a flood of color and shapes and people. Eyos ran to it and it enveloped him.

When he opened his eyes there was a girl staring at him wide-eyed. Eyos stood up strait, "Sorry!" Eyos turned to the door and saw a man there with his hood up. He was dressed almost exactly as Eyos only with a black cloak. Eyos looked over at the girl again, she was still wide-eyed looking between Eyos and the stranger. "Uh... Sir? Thats my look. Kinda how I've been dressing since... well forever."

The stranger walked up to Eyos, "I've had this look longer than you have by at least... What is it? A year?"

"Have we met?" Eyos asked.

"Met?" The stranger pulled down his hood. Eyos stepped back, shocked. It was like looking in a mirror because standing before him, was an older version of himself. "Hey, listen, right now we are running and there isn't much time for talking, I'll try though, but we need to keep you from dying."

"Dying?" Eyos said, "I think I'll be fine because you made it, so I'll be fine."

Older Eyos stared at him, "Whisper!" He whispered harshly, "and no, that's not necessarily true. You can die now and-" Something moved outside, Older Eyos forced the younger into a squat. "Shh!" The thing passed. "Ok so you can die now and I won't exist. This future," He waved his hands around, "won't exist."

"Eyos?" Said the girl, both of them turned.

"What?" They both said. They then looked at each other.

"Ok, how about this I'm Eyos 1 and your Eyos 2? 1 and 2 for short." Young Eyos said.

"No way! I've lived longer! Sonority rules!" Older Eyos pushed the younger one. They laughed.

"OK THEN ONE!" The girl yelled, older Eyos looked first. "It's here." Everyone turned and looked at the extremely tall knight who had to bend down just not to hit his head on the ceiling.

"What is that?" Younger Eyos asked, looking over to the older one. He was gone, young's collar was pulled hard out the window, a hand over his mouth. Young Eyos looked around at the huge city in wonder, it was huge! Massive buildings rose over them Older Eyos was looking around panic in his eyes.

"No. Not here, not yet, I'm not done!" Older Eyos yelled into the air, he put a finger to his temple, then looked around cautiously.

"What are you talking about?" Younger Eyos wondering what the huge knight was really.

Older Eyos grabbed the younger' shoulders, "When you wake up, go to the edges of the meadow and look for a small hole, you'll find something that will save your life many, many times. But this is the time that it won't. It'll be ok."

Younger Eyos stared, scared, into the older' eyes, "Ok, what will hap-" The giant knight jumped off the building above them and belly-flopped on the older Eyos, he tried to protect himself but he was crushed, a pool of liquid started to widen, but everything was starting to lose color, the girl yelled but it felt distant. Everything faded to white as she ran over to older Eyos.

Eyos woke up in the grass bolting upright, sending Rill flying. "Sorry buddy." Rill crawled back on his lap, Eyos petted the peach fuzz scales. _At the edge of the meadow. _The thought vibrated though his mind. Eyos got up and Rill climbed on his shoulder, Eyos ran though the hills until he found the edge of the meadow, the meadow's top was like a dome. Eyos ran across the wall, his hands running across the surface as he ran around. Suddenly his hands had felt a hole that his eyes hadn't seen. Eyos stopped and looked at where his hands had felt a hole, it looked like just wall but he cautiously reached into the hole. He slowly moved his arm forward and found a lever, he pulled it hard and it felt like something was being pressed onto his arm and being strapped around, then a cold metal blade was pressed flat against his veins. Eyos pulled his arm out and saw a gauntlet made of leather around his wrist. He turned his wrist over and looked at the blade, he knew it would extend out but he didn't know how to make it do it. He yawned, stretching his arms up and putting his hands parallel to the ground, he heard the sound of metal and looked at his wrist, the blade had come out, He brought his wrist down and repeated his hand movement, the blade came out again. Rill chirped with excitement along with Eyos' own excitement. He ran back to Alex who was still asleep, he quietly sat down and watched her breathe slowly, and calmly. She was nice, he thought, and cute... that thought surprised him. He hadn't really thought about her like that, she was a friend but the thought still spread though his thoughts like a virus. He _liked _her... The sunlight distracted him from his thoughts. Apparently it distracted Alex from her sleep because she woke up. She sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes.

"Good morning." Eyos said smiling.

She looked over partly shocked at his appearance. "Good morning... how long have you been there?"

"Not long... sorry."

"Don't be," turned away from him and got up, then threw him his jacket. Eyos caught it and put it on quickly. "You're a friend, it's not creepy or anything." Eyos looked down, hurt, but he wouldn't want to show it. "We should probably get back." She said cheerily.

"Ok!" He said back just as cheery. They ran to the entrance of the meadow to find something that would definitely end well.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"People are going to have a lot of questions." Alex said as Eyos helped her up from the temple entrance.

"Well we can say that I got into a fight and was knocked out and that you went to the nurse for your foot and that is why we missed final assembly."

"No one is ever gonna believe that we _both_ just happened to miss assembly on the same night." She joked.

"They really don't need to as long as we stick to our story." He smiled at her. A stick crunched behind them.

"Shhh." Alex pulled out her bow and fitted an arrow onto it.

"What?" Eyos whispered. His hands twitched by his side, as his hidden knives were beginning to itch the inside of his arm. All of a sudden a large group of men jumped out of the forest. Eyos pulled up his hood.

"What do you want?" Eyos said in a funny accent. Alex almost laughed, but decided against it due to their current situation.

"Who are you?" A man stepped forth who was obviously the leader. Alex briefly noticed he had the king's insignia on his ring.

"I'm sorry. We're not allowed to talk to strangers." Alex tried to copy Eyos's accent. But it didn't sound nearly as authentic. The man was obviously infuriated by this remark.

"You'll learn to respect those sent by the king!" His hand rose swiftly, and the next thing Alex knew was the intense stinging that ran through the right side her face.

"Aaahhh." She dropped her bow and stumbled backwards, but Eyos caught her.

"You had no right to that!" He yelled with Alex still in his arms. The man only smiled smugly.

"You'll be next boy if you don't learn how to respect your elders." Eyos was shaking from rage now. "Now," The man's tone was merciless "You two will come with us." He moved to pick up Alex, but she was quick. She rolled to the side picking up her bow from where it fell. A few men charged at Eyos from behind. He did a backwards flip behind them and jammed their heads together. Another man charged at him, but before he could reach him Alex shot an arrow through his chest.

Eyos smiled, and with one swift move he pulled the sword from the man's sheath before he hit the ground. Alex fired a few more arrows, but more and more soldiers kept coming. Alex jumped in the air suspending her fall for a few seconds. She shot another two men and landed next to Eyos.

"We have to get out of here!" She yelled as Eyos stabbed a man with a hidden blade from his glove.

"I know! But we don't have any…" Eyos didn't have time to finish his sentence. Alex watched in horror as an arrow flew from the leader's bow through the air and embedded itself in Eyos's side. He staggered a bit and was about to fall on his knees.

"Get them!" The leader roared confident that his prey had been defeated.

"No!" Alex cried slowing down Eyos's fall. She put her arms around him, and with all her might jumped through the air up into one of the trees. Eyos cried out from pain. Most the soldiers just stood dumbfounded trying to spot them through the treetops. "Hold on." Alex jumped from tree to tree struggling to keep ahold of him.

"Alex I…" He mumbled.

"Not now." Alex clenched her teeth trying desperately not to lose it. Eyos was fading and she needed to find a safe place for her to check his wound. "Stay with me Eyos. You hear me?" He grunted. Alex stopped and placed him down on a heavy branch that she was sure wouldn't fall. "Eyos?"

"Alex I need to tell you…" He took her hand as his voice weakened. She set him up against the trunk of the tree. Hovering beside him she looked at the arrow which was embedded pretty deep into his abdomen.

"You're going to be fine." She interrupted him.

"I don't think we can run from this one Alex." He gave her a faint smile. "Promise you'll look after Rill?"

"You're not going to die!" She felt her face grow hot as tears started to form. "You're my best friend! There is no way you can die!" He tried to move but yelped in pain. She held his hand tighter.

"Sorry Alex…" He coughed. A drop of blood flew on her face and he blacked out.

"No!" She grabbed his shoulders. "I will not let you die!" She felt a tingle run up her spine as energy ran through her arms down to her hands. She looked down in her pocket and noticed that her blue crystal was glowing. She prayed to God and put her hand on his wound. Focusing on the wound she felt all of her energy begin to drain out of her. A soft bluish glow appeared on Eyos's skin. All in a moment the arrow fell out of his side and the skin began to rapidly heal. He coughed again and slowly opened his eyes. She laughed in disbelief. Her hand still on his abdomen

"Alex?" He smiled.

"Well hi there." She laughed back, desperately trying to hold back her tears of relief.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

All pain had left him, and Eyos could have sworn he was going to die. "I almost, uh," he sniffed and wiped his eye with his palm, "I almost died huh?" He laughed.

Alex smiled at him and wiped a tear from her own face, "Yeah, almost lost your life." Her voice cracked and she started to cry.

"Yeah..." he dragged out the word, "I would not want to lose that, I kind of need that." She laughed through her tears, and sat back on the branch, "Hey, its ok." He smiled at her, "I'm alright. Don't worry, I'm fine." He wiped some of her tears away.

"I know... Don't do that to me again thought alright?" She looked up at him.

"Get shot? Not really my choice but I'll try not to." He smiled but she stayed serious.

"I mean it."

"Alright, come on, we should get outta here, you look tired, I'll carry you back."

"No, I'm good." She stood up slowly and smiled "I just healed my foot."

"Fine." Eyos looked up at her while he dragged out the 'I.' "Well? What are we waiting for? Lets go- Whoa!" The world around him blurred as he fell off the branch quickly toward the ground. All of a sudden he felt Alex grab his arm and swing with his momentum. The next thing he knew he was flying through the trees. He narrowly missed a few until he saw Alex jump through the air and felt her arms underneath him holding him up. He laughed "Whoa! Today is NOT my day!"

He could feel Alex's smile in his hair and felt her breath flow down the back of his neck. "Yeah, you should probably just stay inside." They both laughed as Alex pulled them up and out of the forest, and started flying them home. It went slower than usual and he could tell she was struggling a little. After a few minutes they both spotted the academy at the same time.

"I'll talk to you later okay?" She smiled at him as she dropped him off at the nearest entrance to the Academy.

"You got it." Eyos thought he saw her slightly blush as she flew away, most likely to the other side of the school. He slowly snuck his way into the courtyard trying not to attract any attention, and making it all the way back to his room, he slipped in. Eyos tried to close the door quietly behind him, but unfortunately that didn't stop his super sensitive roommate from waking up. Eyos tried to quickly get in his bed, but it was no use. His roommate, Jake, was up and staring right at him.

"Where were you?" He asked somewhat groggy.

"Got in a fight?" Eyos replied.

"Yeah, uh-huh. So where did you and _Alex_ go?" Eyos was annoyed how he put emphasis on her name.

"What? No! Really! I was in a fight! I got knocked out and-"

"Yeah, I _totally _believe you."

"Dude come on!"

"No! You come on!" Jake sat up, "You've only been hanging out with... _her _all the time! I don't see you anymore!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Forget it man." Jake violently laid back down and turned his back toward Eyos.

"I'm sorry!"

"FORGET IT."

"Come on." he got up and stepped toward Jake but his blanket tripped him and he hit the ground, the world went black.

Eyos groaned as he slowly picked himself up from the polished stone floor, it was dark. Jake was in bed reading, as Eyos got up. Jake glanced up, "Hey, you've been out all day. So now you _have _been knocked out." Eyos rolled his eyes and went to the closet; _my parents wouldn't have let me stay there the entire day... _He opened it where his dad's cloak was held. He needed to tell Alex about his parents. Things had gone on long enough.

"It's not like I missed much." He replied.

"You'd actually be pretty surprised." Jake laughed. Eyos pulled the cloak off the hanger and began to change.

"What happened?" Eyos asked, only mildly curious. Most of the "Interesting" things Jake had to say had to do with school drama.

"Men came in from the forest today." Jake walked over and stood outside the closet. "They were ambushed by a couple of hunters in the woods." Eyos went rigid. "But the really weird thing was the headmaster was expecting them. He made a huge announcement about how we need to help them, and do whatever they ask."

"What did they look like?" Eyos came out of the closet with the hood over his face.

"There was a group of them. All kings men." Jake yawned, apparently tired he started walking toward his bed. "Hey are you and Alex…" He didn't have time to finish his sentence.

Eyos closed the closet door and quickly ran out the door slamming it behind him. He heard Jake complain about his headache behind the door but ignored it.

He ran down the hall quietly, when he got to a corner and slowed to a stop. There were guards now, most likely from the same party who ambushed them. He watched them for a few seconds. They were roaming the halls looking for something. _Or someone._ Eyos slowly looked around a corner and sure enough, "Hey! You! Get over here!" he heard a voice call after him.

He pulled himself away from the corner and heard the guard running toward him. When he knew the guard was right around the corner he reached around the corner and grabbed hold of the guard's armor. He pulled the guard around the corner, grabbed the back of his head and slammed it into the wall next to him. The guard slumped to the ground with a gash on his forehead. Eyos left him there and quietly went down to the next hall, which, luckily, was clear of guards. He looked around every corner he passed before crossing and quietly ran through the halls. He spotted another guard walking down the hall he need. Eyos let the air get under his feet so he wouldn't hit the ground, he jumped forward and grabbed the back of the man's armor and used his momentum to spin the guy around and fling him toward a wall. He then landed lightly and ran down the hall. He rounded the final corner where Alex's room was. Eyos hesitated. Could he really tell Alex the truth? Putting aside the thought he knocked on the door.

"Come in" He heard her voice. Eyos opened the door to Alex's room slowly. She was sitting on her bed.

"Hey I know today was crazy" He started to say "but, uh I need to tell you something, can I come in?"

"Yeah sure." She seemed a little surprised. "What's up?" Alex smiled slightly He came in and closed the door "I need to tell you about what happened to my parents, it's obvious that who they are is putting you in danger." She looked shocked.

"What? I thought you didn't know who they were."

"Barely anyone has parents here. Most of us are orphans forced to go here. I didn't want to stick out." Eyos sat down on the bed by Alex. "But yes I do know who they are."

"That's great! Isn't it?" She paused and studied his face "What's wrong?"

"When the king was first recognized as evil the rebellion formed quickly." Eyos looked down and sighed "My parents were the leaders…"

"Are you sure?" she turned away "If that's true, and you're the rebel leader's son. Does that mean the kings missing kid was taken here too?"

"They were my parents Alex." He felt his voice rise a bit. "I remember living with them till they were taken from me by the king." He sighed "They told me that the Kings child grew up hidden here, yes, but no one knows who they might be. They wouldn't even know."

Alex was silent "How old were you when they took your parents?"

"Eleven… I didn't know how to defend myself, or anyone else at the time. I do now though. And I promised myself I would never let anything like that happen again."

"So now you are thinking of going off and finding your parents with your new found powers and skills?" Alex asked him. There was something in her voice he couldn't place.

"Not yet. I still need to find the Kings kid. They will be able to help me."

"Oh… I see." Alex looked away. Was she hurt?

"Hey." Eyos put his hand on her shoulder "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing" Alex said.

"Are you sure?" Eyos looked concerned, "You know you can tell me anything Alex. I can help"

Alex looked back at him. "Yeah I know, but really, it's nothing." He knew it! She resented something he'd said! "Anyways…" She continued "Who else knows you're here?"

Eyos sighed and laid back on her bed "I don't know. Maybe the headmaster? He seems to be getting pretty suspicious."

"So what are you planning on doing after you find the kings kid?" She still wouldn't look directly at him.

Eyos looked at her trying to meet her eyes "Find my parents. I'd storm the kings castle if need be."

"And how would you do that?" he noticed her foot begin to shift." Are you just going to go and use the kings kid as leverage?"

"What? No!" He couldn't believe she would think that! "I just need an IN, someone who can get me further than I could alone"

"How could they do that if they don't know who they are!?" She looked into his eyes. Her green ones drilling his.

"I'll tell them myself if I have to! I NEED my parents back!" He couldn't control the emotion in his voice. There was silence for a minute.

"I know. I'm sorry…" Alex moved closer to him. "It's just for someone who has never had parents its hard..."

"Sorry..." Eyos sat back up "I didn't mean… I forget..."

"It's ok." Alex ran her hands through her hair. She smiled her infectious smile at him. "What can I do to help you?"

"I don't know yet, but I want you to come with me when I search for my parents"

Alex was shocked at first, he could tell. Her mouth was slightly open, and for a moment he thought he had made the biggest mistake of his life. Alex took his hand and was about to answer when, in a moment, there was a knock at her door.

Eyos froze, it was late at night, and a boy being over in the girl's rooms at night was forbidden.

Alex looked at Eyos making to make sure he stayed quiet. "Who is it?" She yelled.

"I am a guard for the King! There was a student running around and knocking out some of our ranks, and the search lead in this direction. So we are checking around" The voice seemed muffled through the door. Alex looked at Eyos with a curios look on her face. He shrugged. She looked up at the rafters and motioned for him to climb.

"One second!" Alex called.

Eyos quickly climbed into the rafters, trying to calm his breathing.

Alex took a quick breath and unlocked the door.

"Hello miss" The guard dipped his head. He was young, and Eyos recognized his uniform as one of those from the forest ambush "have you heard or seen anyone suspicious?"

Apparently Alex had noticed it too. "Do you have a better description?" She asked trying to keep the door partly closed.

"Unfortunately no. We didn't see them... Are you? Alexandra?"

"Alex" She offered her hand trying to change the subject

"Alex..." he said her name as if he had just tasted it, and it took everything within Eyos to hold back from attacking. He took her hand "This is good luck then! The headmaster needs to see you!" He pushed the door open and bowed slightly.

"Can it wait till morning?" Alex asked, obviously uncomfortable. "I have some... things to take care of with my foot." She lied, but the story would hold up.

"I will carry you then!" Then the man picked her up romantic style and carried her out of the room. Eyos flushed with jealously, _not cool. _That wasn't for that guard to do... He quickly got out of the rafters and went to the gaping door. And there they were, the guard was saying something to her, and she put her arm around his shoulder. Eyos was concerned... but he started his walk back to his room.

"Hey!" Another guard had noticed him, but Eyos wasn't in the mood for games. He punched the guard that yelled at him who fell almost instantly to the ground, unconscious. All of a sudden he remembered his crystals! He would contact Alex as soon as he could!


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Alex looked behind her as the dormitory building faded in the distance. Eyos had been able to get out of her room undetected. She hoped that he would be ok. The guard carried her in silence. He obviously didn't recognize her from the forest skirmish.

"What does the headmaster need me for again?" she asked him.

"I am afraid I am not allowed to disclose that information." He slowly carried her through the dimly lit paths to where the headmaster's quarters were. She desperately wished it were Eyos here instead of the guard, especially since he always insisted on carrying her everywhere. They crossed through the training ground, and after a few minutes came to a large two story house. Two other guards stood watch out front. They walked into the porch light. Her escort whispered something into the other man's ear. Both moved out the way giving Alex unnerving looks as she passed by. Her escort carried her through the doorway into a small room. "Wait here" The young guard smiled softly as he put her down.

"_Alex?"_ She heard Eyos's voice through her head.

"_Eyos! Are you okay?"_ She sent her thoughts back to him.

"_I'm fine"_ He thought back. Although she could tell he was worried

"_Me too. Don't worry." _She tried sounding positive.

"Alexan… Alex." The guard came out interrupting their conversation "He is ready for you."

"Thank you" She gave the guard a forced smile. _"I'll contact you after the meeting"_ She quickly thought back to Eyos.

"_Be careful" _His last thought faded, and she smiled a little.

They walked up some stairs to the headmaster's private study. The room was lavishly furnished. Many portraits of him and the school hung around the room. The headmaster was a short pudgy red faced man who never seemed to sleep. He reminded Alex of a grumpy old owl which made her smile a bit more.

"Come in. Come in!" His voice rang like a bell through the room. The guard slowly pushed her in and closed the door behind her. It was then Alex noticed that they weren't alone. The leader of the ambush was sitting in an armchair in the corner of the room. Alex's heart raced as she tried to keep her cool. This was the man who had shot Eyos! She noticed they were all staring at her. "Please sit down Alex." The head master motioned to a smaller chair in front of his desk. She nodded and complied.

"Is something wrong?" She looked from the headmaster to the strange man. The Headmaster nodded to him to take charge of the meeting.

"Alexandria." He got up and kneeled in front of her. "I have long waited for this moment. I am Captain Stonheld. We have spent almost two decades looking for you." He paused and his eyes drilled hers. "We have come to return you to your rightful place in the courtroom of his majesty, King Vire."

"Wh-What?" She gasped.

"Long ago" he continued "When his majesty was married to Lady Marian he conceived a child, a baby girl. The kingdom rejoiced with happiness and those months were the joy of the King's life." Alex stared at him practically begging for him to stop. "As the day of your birth approached your father, King Vire, had just launched a devastating attack on the traitorous rebels. He was needed at the front lines of battle. Little did we know at the time it was only a diversion." He looked away. "Your mother gave birth three days after your father left for battle." Alex's heart hurt. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "The rebels had infiltrated the kingdom months before, and the very healer that delivered you was from their ranks." He looked up at her with sadness and regret in his eyes. "They stole you that night, and apparently brought you here. We found out later the healer was none other than the rebel leader herself in disguise waiting to snatch you up." His mood shifted, he was furious now, to the point where his face was red enough to match the headmasters. "It took nearly twelve years to capture the rebel leaders. But sadly they were protected by magic wards, making it impossible to gain any information" He looked at her now that he was calm "We have come to reunite you with your family, Alexandria Toivo."

Alex didn't know how to respond. This was way too much for her. Toivo? Was this her last name? She couldn't think straight. Her head spun and pounded._ What was she going tell Eyos? She had to stay with him! With their dragons! Did she actually have a family?_

"I don't exactly know what to say." She confessed. The man stood up.

"Arrangements have been made for you to leave with us in a fortnight." He looked over at the headmaster. "Does that sound agreeable?

"I would say so." He looked at Alex. "It seems you will have more than enough time to get your things in order, your majesty." He bowed slightly which made Alex uncomfortable.

"You may leave now." The Captain pointed toward the door. She turned and began to walk slowly away. Her heart felt heavier than it had been in a long time. Alex reached for the doorknob but stopped in her tracks.

"I have one condition." She announced turning back to face them. The Captain raised an eyebrow. "I want someone to come with me from the school. Some that I trust."

"Impossible…" The headmaster began, but the Captain held up his hand.

"Who?" he asked.

"Sir please listen…" the headmaster shrunk in his chair as the Captain glared at him.

"Who?" he asked her again.

"My best friend." She looked up at him with nothing but seriousness in her eyes. "His name is Eyos."

"Eyos…" the captain dwelled on the name. "It sounds familiar. Have you mentioned him before to our guards?"

"More times than I would probably care to admit." Alex felt her face grow warm. She was beginning to blush. The captain studied her for a moment. He looked at the headmaster, who was furious, and smiled. Alex could tell he loved making him squirm.

"I am sure we could arrange such a request. Wouldn't you agree?" He looked back to the headmaster who was sulking. "For the princess."

"I will see what I can do." The headmaster looked back at the Captain with obvious annoyance.

"Make sure you do." He said. "I want to see all her needs met before our journey takes place." He looked back at her "Please excuse us now Alexandria. We have important matters to discuss about the journey home." She nodded and left the room. The same young guard stood outside waiting for her.

"I think I could walk by myself." She smiled at him.

"I don't think that is wise." He made an excuse and picked her up again. "I will escort you to your room." She sighed realizing she had no control over the situation. It took them over five minutes to get to her dorm. He walked up the stairs and brought her to the door. "Now my lady," He bowed "If you will excuse me I must find the student who dared attack our ranks." He turned.

"If I may make a suggestion" Alex called, the guard turned to look at her "A knight in training, Derik, has been especially violent these past few weeks. He has even threatened me and Eyos on numerous occasions."

"I will see it is dealt with." He smiled at her and walked away.

Alex walked slowly into her room. It was dark and she noticed that the three of her roommates were already asleep. Her heart felt heavy and she fell onto her bed. She laid there for a while and thought about her past, and about everything the Captain had told her. How was she going to tell Eyos? She pulled the blankets over her shoulders and buried herself under them. She closed her eyes and tried to run through any possible out she could think of, but there was none. Eyos needed her because she was the IN he needed to find his parents. A tear ran down her face, he would never be able to look at her the same way again.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Eyos sat on the roof of the east wing of the school, leaning against a chimney. "_Be careful._" He thought to Alex, and leaned his head back on the cold chimney. He didn't like that, first of all, she was going to talk to the headmaster, and second of all, a different guy was carrying her like that. The mixture of the two didn't sit right with him. Rill crawled onto the roof, sat on Eyos' lap and snuggled against his chest. Eyos put his arms around Rill and kissed her forehead, she then nuzzled her head into his chin. He smiled, _man I wish I had a bow to go around and shoot some guards, _he thought. He imagined himself aiming at a group of guards while on the roof, Rill stirred a little and became thinner and longer, until he was... Eyos looked down to see a bow in his lap where Rill had been. Then, _pop! _The bow turned back into Rill, Eyos stared at the little green eyed black dragon in surprise. "Do that again!" Rill chirped with delight and spun around, tail wagging like a dog, then focused and _pop! _Rill was a bow again! Then just as fast he turned back into the little dragon. "What else can you do?" Eyos asked. Rill shrugged, _Well when I thought of the bow, he turned into one... so what about some other things? Like... a tomahawk? _Once again Rill transformed and there, in his lap, was a black tomahawk! Eyos exclaimed, _This is awesome! What about... a horse? _Rill shook his little head, _so only small things? _Rill nodded. _Wait! You understand me? You can hear my thoughts?" _Rill nodded with his whole body, excited. _This is even better! _Eyos got up and Rill crawled onto his shoulder. "Rill... Its time to see what's goin' on with the headmaster." He pulled up his hood that shadowed his face.

He jumped forward and grabbed the ledge of the roof in front of him and climbed up, the tiles were cold against his fingertips. He quietly walked his way across the top of the roof and kept himself crouched down. Rill must have known to stay hidden because he crawled down Eyos' jacket so all you could see was his little head and his paws. It was hard not to laugh because Rill was just so darn cute. His smile quickly faded as he heard "Hello?" He quickly dropped to the roof unfortunately making a small bit of noise. "Who is there?"A guard yelled, "Got down from the roof!"

Eyos scolded himself for being so careless to make noise. He rolled down the other side of the roof, careful not to crush Rill as the guard climbed the other side. He swung his body over the edge and held on. The guard walked to the top of the roof and looked around, while his back was turned Eyos lifted himself and peaked over the edge, it was the guard who carried away Alex. He furrowed his eyebrows, he could totally take this guy easily, especially with Rill's new ability on his side. He looked down at Rill who was sitting comfortably in his jacket, Rill looked back up at him and rubbed against his chin. _Lets do this. _He said to Rill. _Clang!_ He looked up and saw the guard standing over him with his sword at Eyos' fingers. "Found you. SCUM." He said forcefully.

The guard lifted his sword and swung down, Eyos forced the air to push him to the side. The sword hit the roof, and Eyos forced the air to send him up and onto the top of the slanted roof. The guard looked shocked when he turned around, but he stayed focused and charged Eyos. _Rill! _He dodged a swing, _Tomahawk! _Rill formed a tomahawk in Eyos' jacket, he pulled it out. The guard looked surprised again but kept swinging his sword. Eyos deflected a light swing for his arm then blocked a hard swing for his neck, the sword and tomahawk locked and the guard and Eyos pushed with all their strength. "Goin' for the neck, a little dirty fighting, for a _guard_." He said though gritted teeth.

"Well you are one problem worth getting rid of." The guard snapped back. Eyos pushed harder then just as he thought he was going to win the guard pushed back, sending him flying, he hit the roof hard and started sliding down the roof on his back. Rill transformed back into himself and flew a tiny bit with his tiny wings Eyos grabbed him and flipped over the edge. He landed on his feet with his tiny dragon in his arms he started running with a plan. Rill climbed back in his jacket, he heard the guard land behind him and start running. Eyos rounded a corner quickly, slid into an open door, and closed it behind him. Breathing hard, he turned around slowly to find out whose room he had entered. A girl stared at him with huge eyes.

"Shhh. Please don't-" The girl screamed and he turned and found a quiver of arrows and slung it over his shoulder, his plan just got easier and just a bit more complicated. He opened the door and ran straight for the next building.

"Hey!" The guard saw him again, Eyos looked back and saw the guard running. Eyos ran up the building and grabbed the edge of the roof and quickly climbed up, he quickly got to the top of the roof and waited for the guard, the guard climbed onto the roof and smiled as he took out his sword. _Tomahawk. _Eyos pulled out the tomahawk and spun it in his hand getting ready for the immanent attack. The guard slowly circled around him and Eyos pivoted to meet his gaze. They kept this movement for what felt like eternity. Then the guard charged again. Eyos caught the swords blade in the nook of his tomahawk and twisted himself and the tomahawk so he was behind the guard, sending the sword flying in to process. He held the guard, the tomahawk blade next to the guard's neck. "Who are you?" The guard said shakily.

"To you, I'm a shadow." Eyos drew his tomahawk back and hit the guard in the head with the flat side of his tomahawk hard, the guard fell on the roof and started to slide. He watched the guard slide and disappear over the edge. "Well, that didn't go exactly as planned," Rill transformed back into himself and crawled onto his shoulder and nuzzled against his cheek. Eyos petted him, "I was thinking of keeping my distance and killing him with an arrow, but…" Eyos looked at where the guard feel off. "I think I'd have to be pushed to an extreme to kill someone…" Rill crawled into Eyos' jacket, "Ok, yeah your right, we should go home. I'm gonna get in so much trouble with Alex." Eyos laughed and jumped onto the next building, running back to his dorm room.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Alex's heavy eyes slowly opened. For a moment everything seemed to be fine. Like nothing had happened. Then the memories flooded back into her mind. She quickly buried her head back under the covers.

"Alex?" One of her roommates, Natalie, had noticed.

"Yeah?" Alex mumbled.

"Where were you last night?" Alex poked her head out to see Natalie standing over her.

"The headmaster wanted to see me." The shock on Natalie's face reminded Alex of her own last night. "I'm leaving the academy."

"Wha- Why?" Alex smiled a little. Out of everyone at the academy Natalie had always been the only one who ever really seemed to care about her, except for Eyos…

"They found my parents." Alex sat up in her bed with a sad smile. Natalie's face instantly turned from shock to amazement all in a moment.

"That's incredible Alex!" she looked at her more serious now "When do you leave?"

"In a fortnight." Alex said, trying to sound positive. Natalie jumped up and down.

"I'm so happy for you! Who are they? Do you know?"

"No" Alex lied. She still wasn't sure if she should let anyone know about her past.

"Well I'm sure they will be amazing." Natalie walked over to the window. "Oh no!" She turned around and rushed to the closet. "Alex I have to go! I have a date! Let's talk later ok?" She quickly pulled on some boots and ran out the door slamming it behind her. Alex sighed, and then heard a faint scratch at the door.

"Newt?" she whispered. She heard a chirp outside the door. Quickly jumping out of bed she scrambled to get to the door. She stepped outside and smiled as she saw her little dragon sitting on the rafter above her door. "Were you there all night?" she laughed. He chirped and glided down onto her shoulder. She rubbed his soft, orange head and smiled. Alex felt something tingle in the back of her thoughts. Eyos was probably trying to contact her. She tried to ignore it. Alex sighed and sat down on her bed. She looked at Newt, who never took his eyes off her. "I don't know how I'm going to tell him Newt…" All of a sudden Alex heard a faint click of a key, and the door opened. Nikki and Veronica came bounding into the room.

"Hey Alex! We wanted to know if…" Nikki looked around. "Alex?" Alex was about to answer them but stopped herself. Nikki and Veronica were right in front of her. Why didn't they see her? Alex looked at herself everything seemed normal except… she was glowing! A hue of pale orange emanated from her skin.

"She's not here." Veronica looked at Nikki.

"She has to be!" Nikki protested. "Natalie said she was just here."

"She is probably with Eyos." Veronica laughed and Nikki joined in giving each other knowing looks.

"You're probably right." Nikki said taking one last look around. Alex couldn't believe this! She was invisible to them! "We better get going there is an assembly in ten minutes. If she is with Eyos they will probably miss it anyways."

The comment stung a bit, but it was fair. Lately she and Eyos had missed a lot of gatherings at the assembly hall. She watched as they left the room closing the door behind them. After a few minutes the orange glow disappeared on her skin. She looked at Newt who sat on her lap.

"Did you do that?" she looked at him. She could feel his excited thoughts run through her mind. "You're going to have to make yourself invisible for a bit." He chirped and jumped on her shoulder. Alex smiled and stood up. She looked at him and saw that Newt was glowing with the same pale light she had seen earlier. She made her way over to the door and cautiously opened it. Looking around she quickly exited her room making her way to the assembly.

Alex slowly walked down the dirt path as she passed many of the school buildings. It was so unreal to think that she would never take another class here at the academy. Even though her training was advanced and nearly complete she was uneasy about leaving. The assembly hall was on the far side of the academy grounds, and it took Alex several minutes to get across the school. She walked through the huge double doors toward the main gathering hall. Almost everyone was seated waiting for the headmaster to begin the meeting. She scanned the room looking for Eyos, but didn't see him.

She looked up at the platform. A panel of teachers sat in their usual seats, but another table had been added for the captain and his soldiers. Alex sat in the nearest seat to her right. She noticed that several of the soldiers had either bandages or slings, including the one who had brought her to the headmaster. She smiled a little realizing that Eyos was behind it. Looking around again she saw Eyos enter casually through a side door and take a seat. Her heart beat fast as their eyes met. He smiled at her and looked up to the headmaster, who had begun speaking.

"Our first order of business" He announced. "Is to warn you all about the serious of attacking a king's soldier." He looked around the room. "It seems that one of you think it is funny to put our whole academy in danger by not complying with them peacefully. As punishment and as a warning we have decided to cancel the annual trip to Philmon's lake." Shock filled the faces of more than half the students, but they knew better than to complain or speak out of turn during a meeting.

"Next," The headmaster looked at the captain, who nodded, then straight at Alex. Her heart stopped. What was he doing! She held her breath and prayed he wasn't going to announce her unbelievable heritage. "Alex is leaving the academy due to some unforeseen events." Alex shrunk in her chair as some of the students started to murmur. It was unheard of for a student to leave the academy. She could feel Eyos's eyes turn to her. "This is fully sanctioned by the panel and since she has basically finished her training here we give her permission to leave knowing she will be in the safe care of the Captain." Alex felt trapped. She couldn't run and all eyes were on her. After a few more seconds the Head master continued with his schedule and daily activities, which took a good half hour. After a few more announcements the headmaster dismissed them. Students began filing out the door while Alex still sunk in her chair not moving. She saw Eyos making his way over to her, but then she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"The Captain would like a word with you my lady." She turned around to see the young soldier who had carried her off last night. His arm was in a sling and he had a bandage around his head.

"Of course." Alex said as she stood up.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to carry you." He smiled at her.

"My foot is actually doing a lot better today." She tried to smile back, but it didn't feel right. They walked through the crowd toward a small door that lead to a conference room. She looked behind her and saw Eyos where her seat was. The door closed and she and the soldier walked down a small corridor. At the end he knocked at the door.

"Enter." The familiar voice of the captain boomed. He opened the door for her as they went in. "Good work Steven." He commended the soldier from where he sat behind a table.

"Thank you, sir." Steven said waiting to be dismissed. The captain nodded and he left the room.

"Thank you for coming Alexandria. I know this isn't the most ideal situation for you, but you are doing exceedingly well under the circumstances." He motioned for her to sit so she did. "We've reviewed your request." He said. She felt her breathing quicken. "At first I thought it would be a bad idea taking your past with you. I thought it might hold you back." He looked at her to make sure she was listening. "But I think it would help you feel better having some familiarity when we return home. Eyos is going to come with us."

"Thank you." She paused. "You have no idea how much that means to me." The captain smiled a little. And nodded.

"You better go tell him." He motioned toward the door. Alex nodded and walked out of the room. She walked through a few more corridors till she reached a back door. She sighed and took a deep breath. She pushed open the door and started walking down one of the more obscure paths on the academy grounds that led to a small meadow.

"So what was that about?" She heard Eyos's voice behind her. Alex looked behind her to see him standing, or more like floating a foot behind her.

"I don't want to talk about it." She averted her eyes from his as they slowly continued their way down the path.

"C'mon Alex. What happened last night?" He moved in front of her. "Why are you leaving?"

"A lot happened, and it's really not my choice!" She sighed, but the more she thought about she knew she had to tell him the truth.

"Like what?" Alex could tell he was concerned "what happened?"

"You're not going to like it." She said quietly

"Lately it doesn't matter if I like it or not, change has been happening. You have to tell me!" He looked straight into her eyes.

There was silence for a few seconds as she started to tear up. "I'm King Vire's daughter." She looked away from his stare.

"What?" He said taken aback.

"I'm his daughter!" She said desperately trying to hold back her tears now.

"The... King?" He looked away from her. "The king who stole my parents away from me? That's your DAD!" A small tear ran down his face, and there was a few seconds of silence between them. "Ok." He said quietly.

"Look. This isn't exactly easy for me either!" Her vision clouded as tears started rolling down her face "I mean it's not every day I have to lose my best friend!"

"Hey," He moved closer and put his arms around her "I'm not going anywhere. The King is your dad. And yes it hurts, but it's not you. I KNOW you're not like him." He put his head closer to hers and whispered "It's ok. Don't worry."

Alex took a deep breath and buried her face in his shoulder. "There's one more thing you should probably know." She pulled back a little and he looked at her curiously. "I asked for you to come with me."

"You... For what?"

"Well you needed an in right?" She looked up at him.

He stood there shocked for a minute "You got me an in?" He smiled at her and laughed. Then suddenly out of nowhere stepped forward and kissed her check. "You're the best of the best." He brought her close and gave her another tight hug.

Alex laughed and hugged him back "Well" she started to say "It's the least I could do for you."

"I need to know something" Eyos pulled back and looked at her. "Did you hear _anything_ about rebel group inside the kingdom?"

"Honestly I don't know any more than you do know." Alex ran her hands through her hair and thought for a minute "But I'm sure I could find out."

He smiled at her again. "Ok, because if we had that information I could have some safe houses there." He got excited again. "Maybe even do some good there."

"So you wouldn't be staying with me then?" she smiled sadly.

"Yeah I would! Don't worry I'd be there the whole time for you!" He put his hands on her shoulders. "It's just when you're out doing your royal stuff I'll be out helping rebels!"

Alex laughed and pushed him away. "Don't you dare think of me as a royal Eyos!"

Eyos raised an eyebrow and laughed. "My lady." He did a ridiculous bow.

Alex smiled and sat down on an old bench. "So" She laughed at Eyos's still bent over form. "Speaking of family, I don't believe you have ever told met your last name?

He stood up and smiled "My last name, your highness, is Pavstoni."

"Eyos Pavstoni." She thought about it. "It suits you."

"Well thank you" He took her hand as he sat down beside her "See? This isn't a bad thing."

Alex raised her eyebrow and looked at him. "Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"Alex." He said in a soft tone. "You're not your dad, and I know you won't ever be like him. So yeah. As long as we're ok I'll be fine.

"Thank you." she hugged him. "That means the world to me."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

It had been hours since Alex had told Eyos who her dad was. He was sitting high in a tree, letting his legs dangle over nothing. The trees made the forest dark, he had forgotten how good the dark felt. Secluded, he needed it right now. Yeah, he was fine with her dad being the King... It hurt him to his core though. _Why? _He yelled in his head, the air whipped around him violently. A branch around him snapped. He slowly turned his head to the broken branch, it hung down, only partly connected.


End file.
